Michigan, Ann Arbor – Arbor Hills Farm is an organic farm that grows fruit, vegetables and cultivates livestock. It leases land from a major property developer, Tilian Farm Development Center.Their produce is then sold to members of the local community via a system called, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
However this farm is quite extraordinary, and what makes it so is the fact that the use of bitcoins is involved, therefore helping to grow the bitcoin economy. They lease out land and provide produce in return for bitcoins. This is all done though the company website,Bitcointegration.
Katie Shafer runs Arbor Hills Farm together with Dan Till. She is a yoga instructor and farmer and together they currently run their bitcoin business found at bitcointegration.com. Dan had studied Chinese and economics at University of Michigan.
Arbor Hills Farm is currently raising funds in bitcoins for the Tilian Farm Development Center who help new farmers to become more established and to also help them in the use of new technology and equipment. One example, being that of llama farming, so that the farm can help in creating alpaca goods and produce for the local community. What is most important though is that these new local farming start-ups are all facilitated by the bitcoin economy.
At Arbor Hills Farm, the chickens get fresh water and food, including lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, throughout the day. On top of this fantastic lifestyle, the yoga studio where Katie teaches also plans to accept the use of bitcoins as payment. People attending the class are also usually members of the CSA so can pay for their local produce also with bitcoins, therefore once again, contributing to the bitcoin economy.
The transaction that takes place is that the bitcoins used to purchase goods at Arbor Hills Farm will be directed to Tilian Farm Development Center for payment. What this ultimately does is to create a small bitcoin economy from the farm and another from the yoga studio, therefore feeding into each other to increase bitcoin profits.
The farm is still in its early stages but there are lots of plans ahead, including the buying of more livestock. What they have shown though, is the way in which cryptocurrency can ultimately transform the traditional farming economy. These farms built on a micro bitcoin economy can ultimately show business how they can grow larger bitcoin economies, to help support the local and wider community.
You can find more information about how you can buy bitcoins on the live bitcoin website.